Sea cucumber has anticancer properties — study

LOS BAÑOS, Laguna — Some species of sea cucumber, a marine invertebrate common in Philippine coastal waters, could potentially be a source of antitumor and antibacterial agents, researchers of three academic and research institutions found in a study.

The researchers are Elmer Rico Mojica, assistant professor at the University of the Philippines Los Baños-Institute of Chemistry; Rodyl Layson and Maria Criselda Rodil, former undergraduate students at the Polytechnic University of the Philippines (PUP) in Manila; and Custer Deocaris, a former senior research associate of the Department of Science and Technology-Philippine Nuclear Research Institute (DOST-PNRI) and currently a doctoral student at the University of Tokyo in Japan.

They documented their findings in a research paper titled "Marine Invertebrates as Source of Potential Antitumor and Antibacterial Agents."

Their report was one of the winners in a science forum convened recently by the DOST-Philippine Council for Aquatic and Marine Research and Development (PCAMRD) based here.

Studied by the group were seven marine invertebrates: four species of sea cucumber (Holothuria nobilis, Bohadschia marmorata, Stichopus chloronotus, and holothuria axiologa), two species of starfish (Linckia laevigota and Oareaster nodosus), and brittle star (Ophiocoma ochoenleinii).

The samples of the marine invertebrates, scientifically known as echinoderms (they belong to the phylum Echinodermata), were gathered in the shallow to deeper parts of the sea off Dimasalang, Masbate.

The researchers conducted antitumor screening of the extracts from the sample species with the use of the brine shrimp (Artemia salina) lethality assay. Forty-eight-hour-old Artemia salina nauplii were used as test organisms.

The most active in the brine shrimp lethality assay was then tested against human breast carcinoma cell line (SkBr3) and lung adenocarcinoma cell line (A549).

Results showed that the chloroform (a colorless, volatile and heavily toxic liquid) extract of Holothuria nobilis contained a potential antitumor agent that is more potent and more toxic (acute) than some commercial anticancer drugs, the researchers reported. This was confirmed by the positive results against the cancer cell lines SkBr3 and A549.

Hexane (a volatile liquid paraffin hydrocarbon) and chloronotus also exhibited weak antitumor activities against brine shrimp and are more toxic than the standard anticancer drugs.

"All samples contained substances that exhibited antibacterial activity against Eschirichia coli," the researchers said. E. coli is a bacterium.

"Results from this study showed the possibility of utilizing marine invertebrates as a cheap source of potential antitumor and antibacterial agents," they said.